It was late evening by the time we arrived at the beach house. It was chilly and we quickly made our way across the sand, anticipating warm and comfortable bed’s to fall asleep in once we got there.

Jane’s dad and Step-mom greeted us at the door. They seemed friendly enough. Her dad seemed a contrast to her posh mom and stepfather back in Vegas. He was casually dressed in jeans and a baggy shirt, and his wife, who seemed noticeably younger than him, had a head of blonde curls, and stood head to toe in floral prints.

‘Come in dears’ she said in a voice as sweet as treacle, as Jane’s dad took mine and Kate’s suitcases for us after giving his daughter a kiss on the cheek in greeting.

We all shuffled inside. It was a nice house, very pretty. Despite his casual ensemble he was obviously a fairly wealthy man.

‘Whoa there’s quite a number of you isn’t there.’ He said as we all piled into his living room.

‘Dad, Lucy, this is Ryan.’ Jane introduced.

The two males shook hands and exchanged ‘nice to meet you’’s.

‘Like I’ve said he’s the guitarist for his band. And this is Spencer, the drummer, and Brendon, the singer, and this is Ryan’s sister Kate and this is Steph.’

‘A pleasure to meet you all. I’m Jane’s dad, you can call me Rick, and this is my lovely wife Lucy.’ He said, gesturing to the flowery woman.

‘Thank you for letting us stay here.’ Ryan said politely.

‘No problem’ Said Rick ‘I’m glad I finally get to meet Jane’s friends. This is your house for the next three days so just make yourselves at home, OK? Now why don’t I give you all a quick tour and show you to your bedrooms? I’m sure you’re all pretty exhausted after your journey.’

Mine and Kate’s bedroom joined directly onto the guy’s bedroom, home to all three of them once Brendon’s futon had been carried in. This meant that whenever Kate and I needed to get out to the hallway, we had to pass through their room. Jane was on the other side of the house, in her own usual bedroom.

Lucy made us all fruit drinks, which we drank hastily, in a hurry to be able to go to bed. We eventually managed to bid our goodnights and queued for the bathroom to brush our teeth. When it got to Brendon’s turn, he emitted a loud yelp as soon as he had got in there.

‘Who did this!?’ He demanded, flinging the door open and pointing a finger to his jaw. ‘It was you wasn’t it?’ He said to me, my guilty giggle giving it away. ‘How long?’

‘Oh, just a few hours.’ I said.

‘A few hours! Wait did I go to that cafe like this? And oh my God, I met Jane’s parents like this? Oh, you are so going down.’

‘Uh, huh, I’m sure.’ I said ‘Now you’d better start trying to wash that off, I think it might be permanent.’

‘What?’ He yelped, before slamming the door.

‘Oh, you are so mean.’ Ryan said to me with a smile.

‘Chill, I’m only teasing him.’ I said, smiling back at him, the memory of what happened between us on the beach in my dream suddenly coming back to me.

It filled my stomach with butterflies whenever I thought about it. In it, I had wanted him to kiss me so badly. And somehow, that feeling has seemed to remain with me in the real world, ever since. It would increase rapidly whenever I saw him smile, or whenever we accidentally touched. It became so intense that he could make my knees go weak with just a look.

Despite this, when I eventually climbed into bed and turned off the light, I closed my eyes and made a guilty wish that I could have that dream again that night.